Hemyock

The February meeting of the history group will be a talk by Rev Ron White in the Church Rooms on February 11th at 7.30pm

The March meeting will be a talk by Mr David Pugsley in the Church Rooms on March 11th at 7.30pm On December 10th Captain Alex Morrice gave a very interesting talk on Nelson and his relationship with Emma Hamilton. Captain Morrice related various escapades by the young Nelson which have never been recorded previously in public print. Emma, who was the daughter of a poor Blacksmith in Cheshire, moved around the theatrical circles in London before being painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds who regularly visited his sister in Torrington, Devon. Emma married Sir William Hamilton who became the British envoy to Naples, an important port and naval shipyard in the Mediterranean. There she became friendly with Queen Maria of Naples who was sister to Marie Antoinette and became involved in politics and gave advice during the period of the French Revolution. She was also recruited to sing at La Scala. When Nelson arrived at Naples after the Battle of the Nile he was nursed by Emma and eventually returned to London with Nelson. After Nelson's death at Trafalgar Emma was left with very little money and died in poverty. However their daughter, Horatia, married a parish priest and had 10 children.

The Hemyock photo and document archive is progressing successfully and will in the next few months become available to the public who will have the opportunity of accessing and displaying the various documents and requesting copies. Should anyone have photos or documents of interest to the community they can be scanned, copied and added to the database. Come along to the meeting on the 11th February and hear about progress and the plans for public access.